bordination he had succeeded in carrying off the Grand Mastership from his predecessor, Don Garci Lopez de Padilla, who had originally made him a brother of the order. Upon that occasion, he had incurred excommunication from a legate of the Pope who had been charged to terminate a schism among the knights; but in Don Pedro's eyes his principal crime was his attachment to Don Juan de Alburquerque; the king was further incensed against him by Diego de Padilla,† who, no doubt, had paved the way for his own election, and to this end had mustered a strong party of the knights, his influence having procured admittance into the order of Calatrava for a great number of his own creatures.

* Rades, Cron. de Calat., p. 51.

The similarity of names gives us reason to suppose that Diego de Padilla, brother to the king's mistress, was a relative of the late Master of Calatrava, who had been thus supplanted by Nuñez de Prado.

CHAPTER VIII.

CIVIL WAR-CAPTIVITY OF DON PEDRO.

1354.

I.

THE violent animosity which the king manifested towards the friends of Alburquerque necessarily excited a violent thirst for vengeance in the haughty spirit of the Portuguese Rico Hombre; he, however, restrained himself, and from the period of his exile there is no indication of his having taken an active part in the affairs of Castile. But this moderation was not imitated by all his followers. The violence of the Padillas provoked similar acts of aggression, which furnished the king with a pretext for breaking the treaty which he had just concluded, and even for attacking the object of his resentment, the chief of the faction. In the spring of the year 1354, Don Pedro suddenly appeared with a little army before Medellin, a town in Estremadura, of which Alburquerque was lord. The inhabitants welcomed the king heartily, but the men-at-arms remained faithful to their master, and retreated into the castle. There, being unable to hold out, they obtained a species of capitulation, very common in the middle ages, they were permitted to inform their lord of the extremity to which they were reduced, and to

give him the opportunity of succouring them within a certain time. Upon the expiration of this term a vassal might, without violating his oath, surrender the place confided to his keeping. Alburquerque having replied that he was unable to enter the country, the castle of Medellin yielded to the king, who immediately caused it to be dismantled.*

After this success, Don Pedro quickly bent his steps towards the town of Alburquerque, the principal lordship of Don Juan Alonso whose surname was derived from it. Alburquerque was provisioned and guarded by a numerous garrison under the command of a Portuguese knight named Botelho, who had just received into his fortress as a friend, perhaps as a useful auxiliary, Pero Estabañez Carpentero, Comendador Mayor of Calatrava, and nephew of the late Master, whose tragical end I have just related. The king, irritated at seeing preparations for a vigorous resistance, and the more so inasmuch as he had not a sufficient army to carry the place by storm, passed sentence of high treason against the Governor and Carpentero. According to the law of the middle ages, this decree was unjustifiable, for upon the one side, Carpentero alleged that he had taken refuge within the walls of Alburquerque in order to escape the evil designs of the enemies of his uncle, and not as a rebel in arms against his sovereign; and on the other hand, Botelho, with still greater show of reason, maintained that, as a subject of the King of Portugal, and liegeman of Alburquerque he owed no homage to the

* Ayala, p. 118.

King of Castile, and consequently could not incur the reproach of felony by resisting his power. Furthermore, their good right was sustained by strong walls, and they were not men to sell their lives cheaply. The siege giving promise of long duration, Don Pedro left his two brothers, Don Fadrique and Don Enrique, with Juan de Villagera, before the castle, and after having despatched ambassadors to the King of Portugal, demanding that Alburquerque should be delivered up to him, returned to Castile.

Alfonso IV., the grandfather of Don Pedro, was then with his whole court at Evora, celebrating the marriage of his grand-daughter, who was betrothed to Don Fernando, the eldest of the Infantes of Aragon. In the midst of the festivities held on this occasion, the Castilian envoys obtained an audience; but before they spoke, Alburquerque, knowing the object of their mission, besought the king to hear him. He then eloquently defended the line of policy he had pursued in Castile, whilst at the head of affairs. After having skilfully alluded to the numerous services he had rendered Queen Maria, daughter of Don Alfonso IV., who was sacrificed by her husband to an unworthy rival, he endeavoured to justify the acts of his administration in these terms, or rather he passed this magnificent eulogium upon them: "I delivered my sovereign," said he, "from a powerful faction; I negociated for him an advantageous alliance with the house of Bourbon, an alliance which traitorous counsels are now labouring to break; I cemented the union of Castile with all the Christian kingdoms in Spain. In return for my services, I

care

?

asked neither money nor lands. The king disposed, as it seemed best to him, of the property of Garci Laso, and Alonso Coronel. I refused to profit by those confiscations.* Am I accused of having kept back any part of the royal treasure confided to my Let my accounts be examined, and my integrity will appear. I take this credit to myself, that during my administration, no new tax has been imposed upon the people of Castile. If any one assert that I have been disloyal to my lord, the king, I am ready to prove my innocency with my body, if you, Sire, will give me the lists, for in Castile I should not be safe. If the Conde, Don Enrique, and the Master of Santiago, will act as challengers for their brother, I will accept the combat, man against man, hundred against hundred. I will myself answer the Conde, and Don Gil de Carvalho, Master of Santiago, of Portugal, will second me against Don Fadrique."+

To this grandiloquent oration, the envoys from Castile replied, with no less heat, that Alburquerque, before indulging in idle bravadoes, had to justify himself to his sovereign, who was his sole judge, and, on their master's part, they demanded of the King of Portugal to oblige the accused to repair to Castile. Upon the one hand, the Portuguese Master of Santiago haughtily upheld Alburquerque; on the other, the Castilian Ricos Hombres, who had come to attend the nuptials of the

* We may be allowed to question the sincerity of this disinterestedness, since we have seen that the domains of Coronel were, for the greater part, bestowed by Don Pedro upon the daughter of Doña Maria de Padilla.-Ayala, p. 83.

Ayala, p. 121, and following.